Course Map
About this Race
The Mexico City Marathon is defined above all by altitude, run at roughly 2,240 meters where the thin air turns even modest paces into hard work and quietly inflates everyone's finishing time. The point-to-point route descends gradually from the city's south, winding past landmarks like the Estadio Olímpico, Chapultepec, and the Angel of Independence before a grand finish in the vast Zócalo beneath the cathedral and national palace. Held in the late-summer rainy season, it draws an enormous, passionate, largely Mexican field racing through dense urban energy. The real adversary is the elevation rather than the gentle net downhill, and going out hard punishes the lungs more than the legs. It suits adventurous runners who want a vibrant cultural spectacle and a high-altitude badge of honor rather than a fast clock.
Course Insight
Everything here bends to one fact: you're running at over 2,200 metres, where the thin air strips away roughly a fifth of your usual oxygen and punishes any surge mercilessly. Throw out your sea-level goal pace entirely; the altitude, not the terrain, is your opponent. Go out at what feels almost embarrassingly easy, because the price for early ambition is brutal and arrives without warning. The route rolls past grand landmarks toward a finish inside the Olympic Stadium at UNAM, a genuinely stirring close. Late-summer timing can stack heat and humidity on top of the altitude tax. The runners who do well are the ones humble enough to let the city dictate the pace.
Difficulty Breakdown
Mostly due to meaningful altitude.
Course Details
- Course type
- Loop
- Elevation gain
- 116m
- Elevation loss
- 120m
- Highest point
- 2280m
- Lowest point
- 2229m
- Net elevation
- -3m
- Start
- Avenida Insurgentes Sur
- Cutoff time
- 6h 0m
Course Records
- Men's
- 2:08:23 — Héctor Garibay (Bolivia), 2023
- Women's
- 2:23:22 — Bekelech Gudeta (Ethiopia), 2025
Race History
The Maratón de la Ciudad de México was first staged in the early 1980s and has grown into one of Latin America's largest marathons. Run at roughly 2,240 metres of altitude, its defining challenge is the thin air, and the course winds through the capital to a grand finish in the vast Zócalo square beneath the cathedral. Organized by the city government, it has expanded over the decades into a huge, passionate mass event drawing tens of thousands of runners each year. Today it stands as a vibrant cultural celebration as much as a race, prized for its atmosphere and its high-altitude badge of honor.
Plan Your Trip
Everything you need to know to get there, get settled, and get to the start line.
- Nearest airport(s)
- Mexico City Benito Juárez (MEX), Felipe Ángeles (NLU) & Toluca (TLC)
- Best area to stay
- The Centro Histórico for proximity to landmarks on the route, Roma or Condesa for trendy boutique hotels in leafy streets, and Polanco for upscale, quieter stays a short ride away.
- Getting to the start
- The start is typically on Paseo de la Reforma in the centre; use the Metro or Metrobús to a central station near the start, as roads close early and traffic is heavy.